Monday, February 23, 2015

Gandhi statue to be unveiled in London's
Parliament Square on March 14

The much-awaited Mahatma Gandhi's bronze statue
at Britain's historic Parliament Square, London will be unveiled on March 14,
Prime Minister David Cameron announced. The announcement came as the
Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust surpassed the one-million pound mark in donations,
with steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal adding 100,000 pounds and the Infosys Board
chaired by K V Kamath 250,000 pounds in the last few weeks.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to be
the special guest at the ceremony to install the statue, which will be the last
one to up in the square alongside South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson
Mandela and Britain's war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

"The statue in Parliament Square not only
marks his huge importance in the history of both our countries, but will enrich
the firm bond of friendship between the world’s oldest democracy and its largest,"
Cameron said in a statement.

In the present world, full of modern technologies like i-phones, tabs and e-books, it is difficult to believe that many people still interested in buying Gandhi books. But a week-long exhibition-cum-sale of Gandhi Books proves that Gandhiji's teachings are relevant than ever.

About 7,400 Gandhi-Vinoba-Sarvodaya books (in English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati) worth about Rs. 3.7 lakhs were sold within seven daysat the books exhibition. It was organized by Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Book Centre with the financial assistance from‘Babulnath Mandir Charities’and‘Mahalaxmi Mandir Charities’at Hutatma Chowk and Gandhi Book Centre at Nana Chowk from 27th January to 3rd February to commemorate 67th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Assassination of Gandhi-The Facts Behind

By Chunibhai Vaidya

The killer of Gandhiji and his apologists sought to justify the assassination on the following arguments:

1. Gandhiji supported the idea of a separate state for Muslims. In a sense he was responsible for the creation of Pakistan.

2. In spite of the Pakistani aggression in Kashmir, Gandhiji fasted to compel the government of India to release an amount of Rs. 55 crores due to Pakistan.

3. The belligerence of Muslims was a result of Gandhiji's policy of appeasement.

Scrutinized in the light of the recorded history these prove to be clever distortions to misguide the gullible. Gandhiji in those days was very active in the rough and tumble of politics. The proposal for partition of the country and violent reaction against it generated tensions which ultimately resulted in sectarian killings on a scale unprecedented in human history. For the ethnic Muslims, Gandhiji was a Hindu leader who opposed creation of Pakistan on sectarian grounds. Ethnic Hindus looked upon him as an impediment of their plan to revenge the atrocities on Hindus. Godse was a child of this extremist thinking.